I'd been warned...

How many times have I heard, "enjoy these times with your little one because they grow up faster than you think. Before you know it, they'll be off to college..." Well, it happened. Tuesday morning we loaded up the car and took Eliot to Mizzou. Since Eliot is teething, he decided to head back home instead of enrolling in classes. So we spent the day with my small group girls. It was a blessing to see them again since I'd only spent limited time with them since I've been home. I've been 'mentoring' these girls since they were in 8th grade so it's a blessing to see how they are growing up. It's odd, of course, to think that they used to need rides everywhere and had braces when they're now picking career paths and living independantly. I'm so proud of them!

(On the way to Mizzou...isn't this how most kids look as they head to college?)

(This may be the only time I'm okay with Eliot in an apartment with three girls...)
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If you live in or around STL, you know that the weather has been insanely beautiful this week. It reminds me of the weather in Antigua, actually. Well, yesterday Eliot and I took advantage of our zoo membership and the sunny sky and met our friends, Nicole and AJ at the St. Louis Zoo. The animals also must have felt relief in the weather because they were crazy yesterday! We laughed a lot and the boys pointed and squeeled a lot!


(The boys were talking to the penguins)

(Nicole and AJ and an unsuspecting polar bear)

(self-taken...)

(Eliot making friends with a monkey he calls Daisy...weird...)





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In other news, I haven't really updated anyone on "Project Eliot Walking". Many of you blog-followers know that he took steps over a month ago and because of our reaction, he decided it wasn't for him. Well, he had even quit standing on his own also. During our photo shoot with Jodie, he stood by himself for the first time in weeks. We kept a low profile but cheered him on. Then in Iowa over Labor Day weekend he took a few steps again between Russ and I. Then last week there was a night after dinner when he was acting like a complete spaz. He was crawl/running everywhere, tormenting the dogs, standing on his head every 5 seconds, etc. So, we decided to try and channel that energy into walking. We even tried to video it for you. He was so silly that he would walk but would then dramatically fall down and giggle to himself. The videos are useless because they really only show me laughing non-stop at my silly son. The next night we went to dinner at a friend's house and he got hyper again after dinner (I promise I'm not feeding him sugar!) so we tried again and he took 4-5 steps several times. The latest update is that last night Russ and I got on the floor with him again to see if he would walk and he repeatedly took between 7-12 steps between us!! He's so close!!! He even let go of me and took a few steps to get to the couch once! Hopefully soon we'll have a video for you!